• Agent641@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Sure, you can ask 10 experts, and get 11 opinions.

    Researching books, authors, subjects, and determining which ones are appropriate and which ones aren’t is complex stuff.

    You would, for example, research the authors prior publishing history of books and journal articles, read peer reviews of their articles, check their references, research the history of the authors of their references ECT to build an idea of what sort of author you’re dealing with. Do they know their stuff, or are they just a book mill? Is any of the subject matter contradictory, controversial, out of date, or incomplete. Repeat for 30 books on the same subject to find the most comprehensive work for your collection.